Grit spending is out of control

It+s easy to spend money, but spending beyond our means only cuts off our capacity to pay for the things we care about most.

That+s the irony of overspending.- The hard part is making the difficult decisions to reduce spending while protecting the core services that people rely on most.-

For the past decade, the McGuinty government has taken Ontario down a path of reckless spending and away from balanced budgets. Ontario+s economy has grown by 11 percent while government spending has grown by 60 percent and the debt 100 percent.

The Liberal government has spent more than the provincial treasury has brought in almost every year since they came into office--$15 billion more was spent in 2011, $14 billion more in 2010, $19 billion more in 2009, $6.5 billion more in 2008 and so on.-

These are hefty deficit numbers. In fact, Ontario+s deficit is three times higher than the deficit of all other provinces in Canada combined. By next year, the Liberals will have single handily doubled the provincial debt load and increased the debt by $140 billion since 2003.

You can+t finance your household on a credit card. You would soon ruin your credit and no one would lend you money. It+s no different when it comes to running a government.

To merely maintain this amount of debt, the McGuinty government spends $11 billion a year in interest payments to foreign lenders.- This expense is now our third largest in Ontario.

Money that could and should be going toward legitimate needs in our communities-toward a new hospital in Alliston, an expanded hospital in Collingwood, hospice services, infrastructure needs and education to just name a few-is going out of the province.

And, instead of addressing this fiscal crisis, the McGuinty government wasted last year refusing to work by proroguing the Legislature and shutting down Parliament. Their inaction has taken a deep fiscal hole and dug it deeper.

A 2012 study out of the Fraser Institute, Canada+s leading public policy think-tank, found Dalton McGuinty to be among the worst premiers in Canada for managing provincial finances. In fact, he was ranked the third worst premier in Canada.

Mr. Charles Lammam, an economist that co-authored the report made the following statement:

-Research shows sound fiscal policy is a key determinant of a province+s long-term economic success. Unfortunately, when Premier McGuinty leaves office, he will have left a legacy of poor fiscal management in comparison to the records of other Canadian premiers.+

That comment speaks volumes.- It+s clear that Dalton McGuinty doesn+t care how much debt he creates, and not a single Liberal leadership candidate or NDP member has said that they plan to reduce spending to create jobs.

There are serious economic challenges ahead in Ontario and we need a leader that is interested in the future economic stability of our province. Tim Hudak and the Ontario PCs are the only Party that have put bold, concrete ideas on the table to actually achieve the goal of reducing spending to protect the core services that people rely on most. To date, we have issued seven policy papers ranging from the economy and growth to sustainable retirement security, affordable energy and healthcare. All the papers can be found at www.ontariopc.com-